The Forester softball team shut out Illinois College 10-0 in five innings Saturday morning but fell 11-7 to Grinnell in the afternoon's championship round of the 2024 Midwest Conference Tournament.

Junior Hannah Smith came within an out of her second no-hitter of the season in Lake Forest's victory over Illinois College. She allowed just one baserunner in the first four frames, a one-out walk in the fourth that was quickly erased by a double play. The no-hitter was broken up by a single up the middle with two outs in the fifth. Smith struck ou t six batters in the contest.

The Foresters jumped out to the early lead with five runs in the top of the first inning. Wild pitches brought in the first two tallies and the other three came in on the fifth home run of the season for sophomore third baseman Cadence Dempsey.

Freshman Paige Ratliff belted her seventh round-tripper of the year in the third inning and three of the Foresters' four runs in the fourth scored on sophomore catcher Kyla Chevalier's program record 12th home run of the spring.

Sophomore right fielder Emmie Nyen accounted for three of Lake Forest's seven base hits in the game, including a triple in the second inning.

The Foresters started fast again against Grinnell with a two-run double by Chevalier in the top of the first inning. After the Pioneers tied the score in the bottom of the second, Chevalier cleared the fence for the 13th time in 2024 in the third, making the score 3-2. In addition to setting the school record for home runs in the season, Chevalier also drove in 64 runs to shatter the previous mark of 42 and amassed 112 total bases to break that record by 13.

After Grinnell tied the score again with a run in the bottom of the third, an infield single by junior shortstop Kaylee Purgatorio in the fourth put Lake Forest back on top.

The Pioneers, however, plated three runs in the fourth to take the lead and added three more in the fifth to make the score 9-4.

The Foresters rallied for three in the top of the sixth with freshman center fielder Kaia Mismash singling in one run, Nyen drawing a bases-loaded walk, and junior second baseman Kelly Collins adding a sacrifice fly. The tying run was on second base when Grinnell escaped the jam.

The Pioneers got two of those runs back in the bottom of the sixth and kept the Foresters off the scoreboard in the seventh to capture their second straight MWC Tournament title.

Chevalier, Purgatorio, sophomore left fielder Brooke Swiecki, and senior catcher Angelle Bills each had two hits for Lake Forest in the contest. Mismash added to her single-season school record totals, finishing her rookie campaign with 71 hits, 55 runs, and 38 stolen bases.

The Foresters finished the season with a record of 30-13-1 while Grinnell will enter the NCAA Division III Tournament at 27-14.